'Best-dressed bandit' booked in WBR

PORT ALLEN - Sheriff's deputies booked a man accused of robbing a gas station and kidnapping the station manager into the West Baton Rouge Parish jail Friday, the day after he was arrested in nearby Baton Rouge.

Deputies charged 53-year-old Michael West with armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping in that parish. He already faces armed robbery charges in Baton Rouge for similar crimes there.

Investigators said on April 28 West went into the Chevron on Lobdell Highway and used a gun to steal cash from the register. Deputies said he then forced the manager into a car waiting outside in order to make his escape.

Deputies said the car was driven by an unknown woman, who is still at large, and the driver was released in Baton Rouge unharmed.

Baton Rouge Police said West's clothes, including a long-sleeve yellow dress shirt and tie, matched the description of a man who robbed a Cracker Barrel station on Nicholson Drive. Police said an anonymous tip identified the robber as West, and police arrested him Thursday.

After he was booked into the East Baton Rouge jail, deputies in West Baton Rouge filed charges in their jurisdiction and transferred him to that parish's jail on Friday.